-Our first guest tonight is an Emmy Award-winning
comedian and actor
who is in his record-breaking 21st season on "SNL."
His memoir, "When I Was Your Age:
Life Lessons, Funny Stories,
and Questionable Parenting Advice
from a Professional Clown," is available now.
And "SNL" returns live on NBC and Peacock this Saturday
with host Dakota Johnson and musical guest
Justin Timberlake.
Please welcome back to the show,
one of the all-time greats, Kenan Thompson!
[ Cheers and applause ]
♪♪
-My friend! My old friend.
-'Sup, everybody.
[ Applause ] Hello, everyone.
Well, well, well.
Thank you.
-This is so exciting, to see you here.
-What a nice reception.
-We've seen you here for over two decades.
It is still exciting, though, to...
-You're also right there. -I know. I'm right here.
-"SNL" is, like, right there.
-We don't see each other, though.
I mean, because again, when you're right there,
you're doing your thing
When I'm here, I'm doing my thing.
-Very true, very true.
But I also, that room right down the hall,
where we both auditioned for "SNL."
You talk about your audition in this wonderful book.
It seems crazy to even look back and think
there was a time where "SNL" was weighing,
"Do we want Kenan Thompson? Do we not want Kenan Thompson?"
But you said said, one of the nice things is,
you could hear certain laughs in your audition.
-Yeah.
-That was actually helpful to be able to,
like, know ahead of time, being a fan of the show,
like, how people laugh
so I could tell who was laughing.
Lorne has a very kind of like, master of the universe laugh.
-Yeah. -Very low and guttural
when he really finds something funny.
[ Imitates laugh ]
Alright. That's pretty good.
Tina, Tina Fey is, like, a little more of a cackle.
It kind of explodes out of her.
-That's a very good way of putting it.
-Because I guess she listens
to a lot of jokes and stuff like that.
So when she finds something actually funny --
[ Imitates laugh ]
All right, that's good.
Poehler is a good laugher.
She really -- She's like a kid laughing.
[ Imitates laugh ]
You know, that kind of thing.
-She's one of the best, one of the most supportive laughers.
-Big time, loves the fact that that was just funny, basically.
That's her thing.
Maya is like a proud mom, you know?
[ Imitates laugh ]
It's like, "Oh, Maya. That's nice.
She's a goddess."
And you have a very funny laugh.
-You know, it's interesting. I noticed in the book,
you said, "Google 'Muttley.'" -Yeah.
-Which is a Hanna-Barbera. I'm guessing?
-It is.
It's a reference to the dog in Hanna-Barbera
that was very sneaky.
-And I will say, I took your advice
and I said I was going to Google it.
When I watched, I was like, "Oh, son of a gun.
I do laugh like that." -Yes, you do.
-Show the audience. -Do we have it?
-This is how I laughed in our years together at the table.
-It's only because you're a little rascal.
Let's show it.
-[ Cackling ]
-That is. That is kind of my laugh.
[ Applause ] -Yeah.
-I did. It was so funny. I was a little rascal.
-Yeah. It's like a little rascal just found something funny.
[ Imitates laugh ]
-Yeah, I love it.
-Some of my favorite things about this book
is not just your history in comedy,
but also you talk about your two wonderful daughters.
Very funny story about going to your daughter Georgia
with help for a password.
-Yeah, I don't know if you know this or not,
but children and technology are really like this these days.
She is prolific and I am not.
And I went to her, asking her for help for, like,
a log-in or something.
I was like, "Do I need to, like,
forget my password and get an email and do all that?"
She was like, "Bruh, let me just show you."
I was like, "Did you just call me bruh?"
[ Laughs ]
Yeah, but that's what happens with a 9-year-old
and you're getting on their nerves.
-You did say there is one thing that would be worse
than if your daughter called you "bruh."
-Which is... -"Kenan."
-Oh, yeah.
No, I can't do the first name thing for children.
No. Show some respect.
-Yeah. -It's "Dad."
-Can you imagine as a kid calling -- even other parents,
who said, "Call me by my first name."
-If I called my dad "Fletcher"?
Bro, I'd be across the room in two seconds
with a foot to the face.
-You would be like, "I had no idea
how fast you move, Fletcher."
-Yeah. Word. "Good on you, Fletch."
Yeah, I love them. They were just here.
We saw Justin Timberlake do his music rehearsal just now.
-With your daughters? Yeah, they came to check it out.
-And he took a picture. He's the nicest.
-That's really exciting. -It's really great.
-I mean, you now, finally, your daughters are like,
kids get old enough where you can actually now
be a gatekeeper to things they find cool.
-Absolutely, and it makes me cool.
-Yeah. -It makes me feel good.
It makes me feel good to be cool in my kids' eyes.
-Yeah. My kids met Forte this summer.
You're kidding. How was that?
Of course, kids love Will Forte, right?
-Come on. Who doesn't?
-And then they were on Hulu messing around,
and they stumbled on "Last Man on Earth,"
and they said, "What is this?"
And I said, "This is a documentary about Will."
-Also at the end of the world. It is a documentary.
-Will went through a bad time before he met you.
-It was still one of the greatest shows.
It's the greatest. -Incredible.
-Shout out to Will Forte.
-Shout out to Will Forte, making multi-generations laugh.
-Absolutely. -21 years.
Hard to wrap your head around.
One of, of course, the most iconic things on the show,
which you've been lucky enough to do a lot of times,
is scream "Live from New York."
I would imagine that never gets old.
I did it a handful of times and it was always exciting.
-It doesn't get old,
and it also doesn't have a fame level to where it's not cool.
I've seen like, Obama do it
and just really be tickled by the fact that he's doing it.
You know what I mean?
And anybody else that has,
you know, uber-uber-fame, you know,
McCartney's done it, Mick Jagger's hosted.
All these people
that have had the opportunity to say that line.
There's just something about it, it's so historic.
It's so beloved and you know that.
And you're also presenting, you know,
a good time to the country.
-And everybody's cheering after you say it.
-Yeah, yeah. It's never like, you drop it.
It doesn't hit the ground at all.
No, "Live from New York," it's like, "Yeah!"
It's never like, "Live from New York."
-"This is Meet the Press!" Nobody would yell.
-No, just....
-And that's been on for a long time, too,
but nobody gives a [bleep]. -No.
Nobody gives a --
-Don't tell Fletcher I cursed. -I won't.
-I have a lot more questions for you.
We'll be right back with more Kenan after this.